The Bonding with 6 min of extra footage

[SeerSGB]

I like Jeremy more that he was a bit racist toward Troi about her Betazoid heritage - only because it gave him more depth than the final cut provided.

How is pointing out facts "a bit racist"? She is betazoid, she does know how she's feeling so her question seemed to be pointless. To him it probably made as much sense as being asked what color his clothes were "You can see them, why do i have to tell you?!".

It's in the line delivery. Something about it just makes it sound off and more like he's making it more an insult/racist remark than just being snappy. To be fair, one of the reasons I don't rewatch this episode often is 1) I just can't stand the kid's acting; I can't feel sorry for him, he just comes off as a little asshole 2) They should have used Troi more (hell this would have been in her job describtion) and dialed back on the Worf plot point if not cut it entirely.

 

[Melakon]

Spoiler: Minor Robocop 2 spoilers!!!!

This episode always makes me think of how that kid gets wasted in the middle of Robocop 2.

Best part of the film.

. . .Jeremy Aster. . .that creepy hairstyle didn't help. . .

That hairstyle may have subconsciously bothered me too. It was fairly common in the 60s (Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya), and I used to wear mine that way. In high school, 20 years before the episode. Thankfully, the "dry look" became more popular with longer hair and hair sprays for men. These days, I just let it air dry and brush.

 

[Jeyl]

So Roddenberry said Children don't grieve and death is accepted as a normal part of life... Ok, there's just one problem with that.

EVERYONE ELSE in this episode spends most of the time grieving! Worf grieves, Riker grieves, Wesley grieves, even Picard grieves a bit in front of Jeremy. Heck, near the end Picard has this to say.

Picard: Jeremy must come to terms with his grief.

It's like a life guard telling people that there's no diving in the pool, but seconds later allows everyone to dive.

 

[Christopher]

I didn't see any racism in Jeremy's attitude. It was more just defensiveness. He didn't want to talk about his feelings, so he hid behind a dismissive reaction to her question about them, pointing out that she shouldn't need to ask since she can already tell the answer.

Billcosby, the classroom set was probably a redress of one of the standing sets, either the crew-quarters set or maybe the medical lab.

 

[ALF]

It's incredible. I wonder how many other areas of the Enterprise D were subject to oblivion on the cutting room floor.

Has anyone else noticed that Troi often has to explain her mixed heritage to people that assume she's a full empath... meaning she isn't able to read thoughts? This is where I was forming a conception of it being a racist statement - although perhaps it's more accurate to say prejudiced than racist.

When Jeremy says, "you're a Betazoid, don't you know what I'm thinking" or something to that effect, he is assuming that she is a full empath. Ultimately, we all know it is his likely his anger at losing his mother which is surfacing... he doesn't actually have any serious resentment towards Troi for being Betazoid and probably doesn't want to endure the line of questioning.

However, is it true that some Betazoids don't have the ability to sense emotions at all? I think Tam Elbrum mentions that in Tin Man. Again, a source of prejudice to assume all Betazoids are fully empathic.

I was trying to imagine how the episode would have played out as a holodeck escape as SeerSGB suggested... I think it would have made a lot more sense as it would be a likely reaction to someone losing a loved one in TNG's universe. I can imagine being tempted to do so if I lost a loved one... maybe even simply for closure.

 

[Christopher]

When Jeremy says, "you're a Betazoid, don't you know what I'm thinking" or something to that effect, he is assuming that she is a full empath.

He says she knows what he's feeling, which was the question she asked. And that is well within her range of abilities. As the scene itself made clear, she didn't ask about his feelings because she couldn't sense them; she asked because she wanted him to talk about them, to face them and work through them as part of his therapy.

However, is it true that some Betazoids don't have the ability to sense emotions at all? I think Tam Elbrum mentions that in Tin Man. Again, a source of prejudice to assume all Betazoids are fully empathic.

Most Betazoids are full telepaths, able to sense others' thoughts as well as emotions, though some are more sensitive than others. Since Deanna is half-Betazoid, she is merely an empath, i.e. able to sense emotion but not thought -- although she is able to communicate telepathically with people she's particularly close to, such as her mother and Riker.

There are probably other Betazoids who have even weaker telepathy or none at all, just like there are humans who lack sight or hearing or the ability to recognize faces. But Deanna wasn't some random Betazoid that Jeremy knew nothing about. As a member of the Enterprise's complement, Jeremy presumably knew who the ship's senior officers were and what they were capable of. He wasn't making a guess about her species; he knew what abilities she personally had. But again, it's beside the point because she wasn't asking for her benefit, but for his.